Epic's Tim Sweeney Honored With AIAS Hall Of Fame Induction

For his contributions toward advancing the PC, console, and mobile gaming industries, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences will induct Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games, into its Hall of Fame. Sweeney established Epic Games (under the name Potomac Computer Systems) in 1991, and guided the company as it released series like Unreal/Unreal Tournament, popular third-person shooter series Gears of War, and Infinity Blade on iOS. Also serving as technical director for the company, he has been instrumental in building previous versions of Unreal Engine and the upcoming UE4, one of the most widely used game engines by major studios and independent developers alike. AIAS says Sweeney's work on award-winning franchises have been "catalysts in the evolution of gaming," and that Unreal Engine has given hobbyists and burgeoning developers "the chance to help shape the direction of the industry". The Epic Games head will be the 16th inductee into the AIAS Hall of Fame, joining the company of other game industry luminaries like Super Mario Bros./The Legend of Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto and The Sims/Sim City designer Will Wright. He will be honored at the 2012 Interactive Achievement Awards show in February 2012, taking place during the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas. Sweeney will deliver a talk at the conference for the first time. AIAS also announced today that Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Blizzard subsidiary Activision Publishing (Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, Call of Duty Elite) will deliver a keynote speech to kick off the show. "Tim's vision has changed the face of gaming with the advent of the Unreal Engine and the commitment of Epic, as a studio, to bring both consumer and industry-facing technology to new heights," says AIAS president Martin Rae. "We're honored to add Tim Sweeney to our Hall of Fame. His unrelenting and innovative work on behalf of developers and gamers has created the imaginative games that help to drive the success of our industry."